


被困

by gemini28



Category: Kung Fu Panda (Movies)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, more tags to be added later
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-14
Updated: 2019-04-14
Packaged: 2020-01-12 23:15:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18456617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gemini28/pseuds/gemini28
Summary: What if, at the factory, the Furious Five were successful with their explosives? Brought it down, succeeded...but at the cost of one very important person.What if Po wasn't dispatched by the cannon, but instead had to deal with the fallout from the Five's explosive plan? Well, at least he doesn't have to deal with it alone!





	1. Chapter 1

As far as strongholds go, the factory is a joke. Despite the presence of dozens of wolves and gorillas around the perimeter, the Five were able to sneak in with barely any fighting at all. And then, there’s an entire mountain of explosives that’s completely unguarded. One would think that Shen was  _ trying  _ to have his plans thwarted. 

Tigress rolls a barrel of gunpowder into the factory alongside the other Masters, and a quick swipe of a torch sets everything alight. It’s a simple, elegant plan, except perhaps for the parts where things explode. With all the lackeys being distracted by the explosives presented nicely to them, and Shen likely distracted by his smug preening, there’s no way anything could stop the explosives from bringing down the factory. 

She leaps away with the others, smiling despite herself and in tune with the laughter. 

“I wish I could see the looks on their faces! I mean I guess I did, just more!” Monkey hoots, swinging up on top a pole and gleefully looking in the direction of the factory. 

“I wish Po could see this. I’m sure he would have enjoyed it.” Viper says. The first few explosions go off, a wholly satisfying sound. Even if there were a lot of escapees, Tigress seriously doubts that they’re going to be in good enough condition to do anything else. They’ll have to round them up. Sooner, than later. 

“He’ll have to accept hearing it second hand. Let’s go.” 

The travel back to the jail is uneventful, besides the crashing sounds of a large factory caving in on itself behind them. Tigress focuses on the planning to deal with the stragglers, as well as to deal with Po. She isn’t going to talk about it out loud but she’s been more than concerned about him. Whatever happened between his family and Shen, she doubts it was pretty. And though he might act as though he’s fine, she knows him better than that. But maybe now that the source of his distress is defeated, he can find peace. 

The moment they step inside the jail something is off. Masters Croc and Ox are still in their second cell, but Po is nowhere to be seen. That isn’t a surprise. When he doesn’t immediately pop up is when Tigress feels the first spark of worry. 

“He’s not with them.” Ox says. He’s peering at them through the bars, worry scrunching up his brow. “What happened?” 

“What happened was we blew the factory up!” Mantis scuttles forward and looks between the two hesitating masters. “Where is he?” 

More hesitation. This time Tigress steps forward and they visibly shrink in front of her scowl. 

“Where is Po?” Part of her already knows the answer. More of her wants to reject the possibility entirely. 

“He, uh...He went to follow you guys to the factory.” Croc says, and Tigress is already turning and running before he finishes. She hopes that Po didn’t make it in time to get caught up, and they’ll all cross paths and she can yell at him without feeling bad. But she can’t lie to herself about that. She knows that whatever Po did, it wasn’t far behind the Five. 

She can only hope that they aren’t too late to help him.

* * *

 

Po doesn’t wake up easily. Not when he has things to do, and not now when it feels like his head has been caved in by a very spunky cat. The last thing he remembers is...sneaking into the factory. Right, and then...trying to find Shen. Right, and then… His memory gets really blurry at about that time. There was a deafening noise and then the already shaky catwalk fell apart under his feet. 

He doesn’t remember anything after that. 

Groaning a bit he sits up and immediately has to lay down again.  _ Everything  _ hurts, with special mention to the guest stars his ribs and arm and just about everywhere else. He opens one eye a crack and then both when he realizes it didn’t just seem dark because his eyes were closed. Wherever he is, there’s only just enough light for his eyes to slowly, slowly adjust to, and what little there is has dust flowing through it. 

It doesn’t look like he’s in any kind of room. Everything is chunks of rock and twisted metal teeteringly making up his surroundings. So that pretty much rules out a kidnapping scenario. He tries moving again, slower this time, and manages to sit up. Step one, accomplished. Only about 99 more steps to go. 

His eyes have adjusted to the dim light now and while he can’t see amazingly it’s a lot better than being in pitch blackness. Taking stock of his surroundings, he doesn’t see an immediate way out. Where the light is coming from is so small there’s no way a fully grown panda is fitting through it, other holes are similarly tiny, and the unconscious peacock off to his right isn’t going to be of any help at all. 

He pauses. 

He checks to his right again. 

That sure is Shen, laying sprawled out amongst the rubble. Po scrambles back and watches him carefully for a few moments, but when he doesn’t seem to stir Po relaxes just a bit. Okay. So he’s trapped under a bunch of rubble with a bird that’s tried to murder him every time they’ve interacted. That’s fine, that’s cool, he can totally handle this. There’s not nearly enough room down here for either of them to do big fancy maneuvers, so maybe Po being roughly four times Shen’s size will help him out?

In any case he seems to be out cold right now, so he’s not an issue until he’s awake and being smarmy and murderous again. Po stands with careful movements and starts to feel around the area for anything that could be moved without taking the whole place down with him. In some places he has to crouch, because after the first two times of clunking his head on solid rock he learned. 

The makeup of the cavern is kind of a mixed blessing. Most of it is made up of larger chunks of rock and metal, pressed so tightly together that it’s unlikely that they’re going to be moved any time soon. Of course, that’s also the bad part. Po could probably crack of couple of these if he really wanted to, but who knows what’s up above them and how it’d be affected. Calculating orders for the noodle shop is leagues different to figuring out this that he isn’t even willing to try it. 

At least wherever they ended up, they’re close enough to the surface to have light, however weak. Hopefully that’ll translate into a kickass rescue operation. 

There’s a rustling and light falling of debris behind him, and then a groaned curse. Po freezes for a moment, trying desperately to remember if peacocks can see in the dark. Though since he’s never actually met one before this whole shebang it’s just making a shot in the dark. 

“Oh, you must be joking.” 

Nope, okay. Cool, cool, stay cool Po. He can do this. He takes a deep breath, straightens up, smacks the top of his head, and then turns around wincing. 

Shen is sitting on the ground, glaring up at Po with defiance that, honestly, seems pretty misplaced to the panda. It’s not like Po’s been trying to kill him, after all! He’s just wanted some answers. 

And look where that got him. Oof. 

“Oh, good, you’re awake! Do you-” 

“No.” 

“Wha-”

“No.” Shen says, firmer this time, and Po is actually struck wordless for once. He isn’t surprised but damn! Still! 

This is going to be a lot harder than he thought it would be. 

* * *

 

The Five have never gone faster than they do to make it to the factory. Tigress leads, stopping only when they reach the edge of the destroyed factory. 

In any other situation it would have pleased her to see how well they did. If she didn't already know, she wouldn't have guessed that the field of twisted metal and stone was once a factory. There are fires in places where the molten metal and slag leaked out of the crucibles. It lends much needed light to the night, especially lighting up the dark figures of wolves moving around the rubble. 

Tigress’ ear twitches and she swipes out at a close patch of darkness, bringing back her paw with a wolf at the end of it. He looks startled, and she recognizes him easy by the scar over his eye. She can’t even be fully satisfied by the fact that he smells like burnt fur and fear. 

“What the hell are you doing here again?!” He practically barks, trying to seem only angry. His ears being pinned flat against his head gives him away, though. Tigress lets go of him much to his obvious surprise. 

“It's not any of your business. And I would suggest you and your kin leave before you become our business.” She turns, her glare reaching out towards the rest of the darkness, where she's certain there's more wolves. It would seem that even explosions and buildings crashing down around them wasn't enough to kill all of them. But then, why are they still here…?

“Tigress?” Viper has moved up onto a portion of debris that’s higher up, so she can whisper to Tigress and actually be heard. “Wouldn’t they be...well, helpful? I know they’re criminals, but we could probably use the help in finding Po.” 

“Maybe so. But there’s no reason to trust them, or their actions. We can find him without their help.” Tigress says. Maybe if the wolves weren’t trying to kill them all earlier, or weren’t working for a megalomaniac despot, a team up would be a good idea. 

“You’re looking for the panda?” Says the scarred wolf who is...still here, for some reason. Most of those who get threatened by Tigress are only too eager to leave as soon as possible. “Why would you- Wait.” His expression curls into a smug grin with teeth. “Oh, I see. You didn’t bother to check that one of yours wasn’t still in the factory before deciding to blow it up. Well, ain’t that just-” 

He doesn’t get to finish whatever scathing remark he had cooked up, because he gets clocked by Tigress and is laid out pretty quickly. She doesn’t even need to react to having just punched out roughly 200 pounds of wolf, instead turning back to the other four with a suspiciously placid expression. 

“Let’s get to work.” She says, already walking off. The other four glance at each other, but there’s really nothing to say after that, is there? Not when Tigress is in this kind of mood. Besides, she’s right that they should get looking for Po, before it’s too late. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Po has the most dubious heart to heart in history. Tigress and Viper have a better go at it. Shen is currently the record holder for worst cave in partner alive.

Po is in about the same situation as when he woke up. In fact, he’s certain it may have been better if he’d stayed unconscious since at least then he might have fun dreams. He  _ definitely  _ would be doing better if Shen had stayed unconscious. Not that the peacock has actually done anything yet, but his glaring has crossed the line from annoying to unnerving real quick. For someone who’d been trying his best to kill him at every moment the only explanation for his quietness is that he’s planning something particularly evil.

It’s adding more stress to an already pretty stressful situation.

“You know,” Po eventually says, because he hasn’t ever been able to be quiet forever even when he should be. “I don’t really get why you hate me so much. I mean. Besides the whole good versus evil thing. And I’m pretty sure I didn’t do anything to you, ‘cause you’re like, way older than I am and I’m pretty sure I’d remember you-”

“Can you just,” Shen finally says. “Shut up. Or is that another thing you’re incapable of, panda?”

“Whoof. Sheesh! You try and make conversation…” Po isn’t actually put off by it. He’s had far worse from almost literally everyone, a slightly snarky bird isn’t going to phase him in this situation. “I can be quiet if I want, I just never want to when a murderer tries to intimidate me into it.” Which, he doesn’t say out loud, is almost always.

Surprisingly, Shen doesn’t reply. He didn’t strike Po as the type to go quiet and not get the last word in, but then again he has only known him for about a day and a half at best. Po straightens up a bit as he stares contemplatively at the rocks.

In his experience, the bad guys almost always have a reason for what they’ve been doing. Tai Lung had a reason, almost all the bandits and thieves he’s encountered since then have had one, so who’s to say Shen isn’t the same? Obviously he’s still gonna kick ass, but at least understanding where villains are coming from is enough to figure out their plans a lot easier.

Without thinking, he pulls a rock out of the wall. It takes a good few extra seconds for his brain to catch up to the fact that, hey, he shouldn’t have done that, but by then it’s visibly too late. The wall he was standing in front of starts to crumple in on itself, and Po jumps back.

“What did you do?!” Shen hisses. Po doesn’t answer because he thinks it’s pretty obvious, but he does pick him up when Shen doesn’t move quick enough out of the path of the rocks. He moves more on instinct than anything else, so it isn’t as much of a surprise as it maybe should be when Shen makes an indignant but undeniably pained yelp.

Half the room has caved in before it stops, and Po watches it warily. Okay then. No more contemplative actions without making sure he has his hands firmly at his sides. Maybe this kind of thing is why Shifu wanted him to learn inner peace so badly-

“Ahem.” Shen brings him out of his thoughts. “If you don’t mind  _ letting go of me, you idiot _ .”

“Oh, whoops sorry.” He winces a bit and drops Shen, which doesn’t earn him much besides getting sworn at. He doesn’t even  _ know _  some of those words.

But in the middle of a particularly impressive tirade about his mental abilities he notices something definitely off. It takes him a couple of seconds to think about the details, and then he interrupts Shen because if he’s right then it’s more important than his rants.

“Hey,” He says. “Weren’t you wearing an all white hanfu earlier?”

The thing about birds that most people don’t understand is that it isn’t that they’re less emotive. It’s just that they emote pretty differently from everyone else. Considering that Po’s dad is a goose, he’s well versed in the general expressions. Which is why when he sees the tell tale expression of “I’m hurt badly but don’t want to show it” he would kick himself if there was more room.

“Why am I not surprised it took you this long to notice? How- Wh- Let go!” Shen reels back when Po reaches out to touch his wing- the spot where the blood is seeping through- but he doesn’t get very far in the smaller area. It’s not like Po has to look hard, anyways. Now that he’s actually up close and personal, it’s so obvious that Shen’s wing is broken. It’s far more impressive that he’s been able to hide it for as long as he did, considering the angle.

“Woah,” Is all he can think to say. Then, because he doesn’t want to just be stupidly staring, he grabs the sleeve of Shen’s hanfu and rips it. It occurs to him about a second later that it’s polite to ask when you’re going to shred someone’s clothing, but whoops. Too late! “Uh-”

“What is it with you people,” Shen says through barely suppressed rage. “And destroying extremely expensive clothing? Do you even know what you’re doing?” A pause. “What...are you doing, exactly.”

Po has pulled the cloth into longer strips, and shrugs as he turns back to Shen.

“Well, I’ve had to learn a bit about first aid since training is tough, and I’ve had to patch Crane up more than once!” Po says, with a big grin. The bewildered expression on Shen’s face isn’t enough to dissuade him, either, as he reaches out again.

“...You’re going to  _ help  _ me? Are you out of your mind?” Shen laughs, but beneath the derisiveness is what Po thinks and hopes is genuine confusion. He can handle confusion!

“Naw. I just don’t see the point of leaving you messed up when we’re both stuck here! And maybe you’ll stab me less when we get outta here.” Po says this mostly as a joke, but by the look on Shen’s face you would have thought he’d never heard one in his life.

“In your dreams, panda.” He says, his voice full of scathing bitterness that Po quite frankly thinks is a little uncalled for.

But hey, he had to try.

* * *

 

It’s hard to find safe spots to move around in the wreckage of the factory. Everything is either too sharp or too hot to touch directly, but the Five make do. It’s clear that they’re on a time limit to find Po, since even his luck has to run out eventually, so a couple of burns and cuts is nothing.

What makes it all the more difficult is the fact that even after Tigress’ show of not being remotely in the neighborhood of messing around, the wolves are  _ still _  here. They might not be approaching them yet, but their presence is making everyone even antsier than they would be.

Tigress shoves a particularly large piece of debris aside and growls. Although things are feeling more than a bit hopeless, it isn’t in her to give up. And though she’d absolutely never admit to it being important, she knows that Po wouldn’t want her to give up either. A warrior never gives up until everything in their power has been tried. And then they try some more.

It would be easier to keep that in mind if Po was here. If she’d just made sure- If she had  _ checked _ -

“Tigress?”

She whips around, ready to take a head off, but it’s only Viper looking at her with concern. Tigress relaxes a smidge, but not entirely. Viper may be a friend but that doesn’t mean that she wants to show weakness around her.

“Viper. Have you found anything?” She says. Viper shakes her head, which doesn’t surprise Tigress in the least. If there had been something, there would have been quite the uproar already. “Then, do you need something?”

“I…” Viper shakes her head again, but this time it doesn’t seem like she’s saying no. Tigress waits. “I’m thinking about Po.”

“I think we all are.” Tigress says, and innerly winces. Even she knows how harsh that must sound. Viper doesn’t seem too put off, at least. Being around her often must make it easier to read her moods.

“Yes…” She goes quiet for another moment before looking up at Tigress with the sort of sharp glance that always seems to startle anyone who is used to her calm demeanor. “Do you think he’s still alive, Tigress?”

What a question. But it does seem like the only thing to ask, doesn’t it? If Po was dead, they could easily delay their search until at least daybreak. The dead have no need for a rush, after all.

“Yes. We would know if he wasn’t.” She says this with a lot more confidence than she feels, but at the same time her words aren’t a lie. Members of the Five have gotten badly injured before, and often when it was bad enough there was sort of a...shock. Like a stone being thrown into a placid pond. Even if they didn’t see the incident happen, the others just  _ knew _  something had gone wrong. And if that was only for bad injuries...Then Tigress knows that a death would have a far worse ripple.

Viper smiles, relief washing over her expression. To tell the truth, Tigress used to wonder at the others finding such calm in her saying something that they were all thinking, but by now she understands a bit better. Everyone seems to see her as a port in a storm; if Tigress believes it’ll be alright, then it must be. She might not  _ understand  _ it, but if it helps it helps.

“You’re right. Thanks.” Viper says, and starts to move forward. “We should get back to work! I still haven’t looked-”

There’s a shout from across the ruined field and their heads snap towards the noise. But it’s only Monkey, racing towards them.

“That old lady is back! The goat that was in the tower!” He yells before skidding to a stop beside them.

“The Soothsayer?” Viper says.

“Yeah! She wants to talk to us.” Monkey gestures behind him, and if Tigress squints she can make out some shapes off in the dark. “Says it’s important.”

“Then we shouldn’t keep her waiting.” Tigress says, and follows Monkey. She has a feeling that if they just ignored the Soothsayer, they would only be making things harder for themselves.

* * *

 

There is only one thing that can truly decimate the Dragon Warrior. Besides stairs. And long treks. And no snacking.

And that is...Silence.

Po has never been someone who’s able to keep quiet for any real length of time. As a kid he was often scolded for talking during quiet times. As an adult he’s driven most of the people in the Jade Palace up the wall with his incessant talking. So, finding himself in a situation where him talking too much is very likely to at the least get him into a fight...Not optimal.

“So…” He says, twiddling his thumbs. “What do you usually talk about with, like, uh, friends?”

Shen stares at him in obvious disbelief. Which, fair, Po probably deserves that. But what else can he do! It’s not like he really knows anything about this guy, let alone if he even  _ has  _ any friends. Which...maybe that’s why he’s looking so murderous? Oops.

“I don’t have  _ friends _ ,” He says, as if the word itself is poison. Po opens his mouth to ask why and then shuts it as Shen glares again. “I have no need for them. Having loyal servants suits me far better.”

“Uh huh.” Po settles his chin on his palm. “What about that one wolf? The funny one with one eye?”

“My gods, you think he’s funny? Don’t let him know.”

Was...that a joke? Did Shen just make a joke??

“But no, he is not my friend. My right hand man, certainly, although he seems barely capable of  _ that _ .” Shen says. Po can detect more than a bit of a lie behind those words, but Shen continues before he’s able to say anything. “I don’t know why you’re bothering to ask these sorts of questions. Just because we’re stuck down here together does  _ not  _ mean I am suddenly going to be buddy buddy.”

“Well, sure!” Po says, then grins wide. “But I am!”

Shen rolls his eyes with such disgust Po can’t help but to wonder if he’s always this easy to rile up. Maybe it’s just because all of his evil plans have crumbled into dust that he’s a little on edge.

“And if I refuse to play along with this little farce of yours?” Shen sneers, leaning back against the rock with an air of smugness that’s quite frankly impressive.

“Well, you’re allowed to! Totally within your rights. But…” Po shrugs. “I’ve been known to talk for like, three hours straight an empty room. If you’re okay with that…” He trails off and gives Shen as much of a pointed look as he can manage. He likes to think he got the point across when the peacock makes a disgusted expression.

“Fine, fine! Indulge in your stupid prattling. Whatever will make you even slightly less insufferable.” Now Shen is definitely sulking. Po can’t believe this is the same guy that’s been terrorizing the city for days. He’s met chicks that are more adult than this guy!

“Right, cool. So…” Po pauses exactly the amount of time that he’s found people tend to think means he’s trying to think of something to say. “Why’d you lie about what happened with my parents?”

Shen sucks in a sharp breath, which is how Po knows he’s right on the mark. It’s a shame (for Shen) that he had all this time to think in the dark and quiet. If he hadn’t had that time he wouldn’t have been able to see the obvious holes in his story.

“...And what makes you think I was?” Shen’s voice is tentative. Hesitant. Po still doesn’t know why he gets this reaction, but it sure makes getting the truth easy!

“Well, for one thing, all your talk was just to distract me long enough to shoot me with that weapon.” Po says. “So I’m pretty sure you were making it up at least a little bit. So you were there, but you’re lying about  _ something _ .”

“...Ha. Yes, you’re right. Yes, I did lie. But what of it? You aren’t going to be able to tell what’s truth and what’s lie.” Shen sneers. “What a  _ pity _ . Maybe you’ll be able to find out the truth after we both die down here.”

“Well I’m not gonna give up so easily! On that  _ or  _ getting out.” Po crosses his arms in what he thinks is a pretty defiant move. Shen might not be trying to kill him anymore (yet) but he sure is being just as annoying as he was before.

And to tell the truth, as worrying as it may be, Po has been feeling a lot more like...Like, well, like he should force some actual information out of Shen. He’s not sure if it’s just the claustrophobic situation they find themselves in, or if it’s Shen’s caustic personality that’s finally really grating on him, but he’s finding it harder and harder to keep his temper in check. And considering that he didn’t even know that his temper was enough to have to be kept in check, it’s a little concerning.

He needs a moment or two to collect himself. However, the cavern isn’t big enough to just walk away and be by himself. He has to figure out a way to calm down. He has to…

Wait. He stops in the middle of his nervous pacing and straightens up. Maybe there is another option he has? Maybe...He remembers all that talk Master Shifu had about inner peace and everything. Maybe that could help! Yeah!

Now… if only he could remember how those gestures went…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sheesh, sorry about all the confusion vis a vis the chapters folks! even though ive posted a billion things on here sometimes things still elude me. 
> 
> besides that: god i love writing shen.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The two groups up top get a their fortunes told. Po comes to a realization.

The Soothsayer is at the edge of the site of the destroyed factory, sitting with such a calm expression it’s hard to imagine anything at all could be wrong. Tigress finds this especially puzzling, as the goat is surrounded by grouchy looking wolves. Most of the goats she’s known are at least slightly intimidated by sharp teeth and strong claws, but then she supposes the Soothsayer has been around them long enough not to care. That, or she’s seen that she’s going to be fine. 

“Ah, Masters Tigress and Viper. I’m glad that Master Monkey found you so quickly.” She says, smiling up at them in that peculiar knowing way that Tigress had noticed in the tower. “Wonderful. Please, have a seat.” 

Tigress eyes the wolves for a long moment before sitting down with the rest of the five. She’s been taught diplomacy as a matter of course, but she’s always found it to be one of the more difficult skills to perfect. And when the diplomacy involves enemies- Well. Usually it would be Po’s task to figure out how to diffuse a bad situation. Right now their best bet is Monkey or Viper, and neither of them are looking particularly kindly in the evening fire-glow. 

“When I heard what happened, I did a reading.” The Soothsayer says, bringing out an elegant bowl. “Not knowing if your friend is dead or alive must be particularly distressing for you all. Shen’s fate being vague as well doesn’t help matters.” 

She reaches into a bag next to her and pulls out several items: a long white feather, a clump of black and white fur, and what Tigress recognizes to be some of the black powder from Shen’s weapons. The Soothsayer places them into her bowl and sits back as red smoke starts to billow.

"Shen and Po are still alive. But the point in which you can save them individually has long passed." She says this with the same calm tone she says everything, despite the reactions around her. “Both groups must work together in order to achieve their goals.” 

There’s a moment of silence before the leader wolf barks out a disbelieving laugh. In other circumstances, Tigress would be inclined to join. Working together seems as impossible as the sun rising in the west. But to simply throw in the towel when faced with something like this would not be fitting of a kung fu master, let alone five of them. 

“We would be willing to work with the wolves, provided they can work with us.” She words it like a challenge. And, just as she thought, the wolves nearly as a group growl and look offended. 

“Of  _ course _ we can! We’re not incompetent!” The leader wolf snaps, and Tigress knows she’s hit the mark. “We’ll work with you kung fu cowards, alright. But if you try to get in our way, we’ll have  _ trouble _ .” 

“Likewise to you.” Viper says, flicking her tail at them in a way that is both dismissive and menacing. Some of the wolves seem to recall all too easily how badly she beat on them, and cringe. 

“Yes, you will both cooperate well. I have full confidence in the masters, but you-” And here, the Soothsayer stands up and jabs the leader wolf in the stomach none too lightly. “Huojin, I expect you to act at least somewhat proper if you want to find Shen again.” 

Judging by the way his tail tucks in between his legs, that isn’t just a more proper way of describing him. 

“Don’t-” He glances at the others and leans down, whispering somewhat desperately. A shame he’s surrounded by creatures with exceptional hearing. Well, except for Mantis. “Don’t just  _ call _ me that so  _ casually _ . Please.” He adds the last bit almost as an afterthought.

“If you give me an actual reason not to, then perhaps I’ll consider it.” The Soothsayer sits back down and looks at the two groups expectantly. There’s an awkward moment of silence, before Tigress stands and starts to walk. It doesn’t seem as though they’re going to get any further details and she wants to find Po before the fortune becomes far more dire. 

“Wh- Hey, wait!” The wolf leader- Huojin, she supposes- hurries after her. “If we’re going to work together then we gotta probably talk, right?” 

“What, you believe what that old goat says?” Mantis says, earning himself a light smack from Viper. Huojin shrugs. 

“She was right about the pandas. And I never, uh, doubted her anyhow. Shen was the one that got all...hysterical about it.” His words come out in a rush. Like he’s been holding back saying things that are on his mind for ages. ...Thinking about it, he probably has.

“Oho, he’s just Shen now?” Monkey seems entirely too amused by this. “Did he lose his title after we kicked his butt?” And the glee is a little much but no one’s ever been able to get Monkey to be wholly ungleeful, even when the situation calls for it.

“What? No.” Huojin snorts. “Don’t think so highly of yourself. He’s always just been Shen to  _ me.”  _

Though it’s difficult, Tigress manages to ignore the chorus of ooohs from both groups. She doesn’t want this to turn into a group gossip session, but she’s long since accepted that the shenanigans of the other Five end up there most of the time anyway. And it might keep the wolves distracted from starting fights if there’s a bit of friendliness spread about. Just...not from her.

* * *

 

The cave isn’t the biggest, but it does have the upside of being large enough for Po to stand up to his full height in. It’s still a bit hard, but that’s only because when he stands up straight there’s a sharp, persistent pain in his ribs. He might not be as obviously injured as Shen is, but his body is not subtle with the warning signs. He’s going to have to think about how to get out of here once he’s calmed down. 

He’d only seen Shifu do the whole inner peace thing once, and he wasn’t really paying the kind of attention he probably should have been at the time. Does inner peace  _ require _ to be somewhere calming? Is water necessary? And what about what Shifu was talking about- With the hardships and the small diets and all? He really, really wishes he’d been paying more attention. 

His train of thought is stopped halfway on the track by a drop of water splashing straight down on his head. He looks up, confused, and finds that the source is a small consistent drip from one of the twisted metal spikes jutting out from the ceiling. At least that’s a source of some small amount of water, no matter how gross it may be. And, hey, he remembers Shifu doing that thing with the water before, too-

“What the hell are you doing, skulking over there?” 

Although, Shifu didn’t have to deal with an annoying peacock while he was learning inner peace. 

“I’m, uh, just, y’know.” Po says. “Hey, there’s some water over here! We’ll be good on that!” 

“Oh, yes.” Shen says, and though his expression barely changes his voice is just full of disdain. “And we’ll be able to spend a few extra hours alive when our bodies eat themselves from the inside out. Oh, don’t give me that look. I’m well aware that you pandas spend most of your time stuffing your mouths with whatever’s in reach, and although I don’t eat much I still  _ need _ to.” 

“Well...Yeah...But jeeze, you didn’t have to put it that way…” Po mutters. His stomach rumbles and boy, does it just have the worst sense of comedic timing. “Whatever, we’ll be found before then! We’ve got two teams looking for us!” 

Shen scoffs again. 

“The wolves have no reason to work with your kung fu masters. With any luck, once I’m out of here they’ll have gotten them all.” 

It’s said just the same as any other nasty thing Shen has said, but something about it pierces through Po. It’s the same kind of headache he gets whenever Shen’s tail feathers are fully out. It feels far too familiar to just be a strange case of the heebie jeebies, but he really can’t place it. 

He turns back to the water and takes a deep breath. He can do this. He...He has to. Something in him knows that he has to. 

He adjusts his feet to how he saw Shifu doing it, the rock under his feet scraping against him harshly. The two swipes against his face, and then he reaches up to catch one of the water drops with his paw. It doesn’t immediately break and soak into his fur, but he doesn’t focus in wonder on that. Instead, he remembers all the strange feelings, the fear, the nagging sensation that he’s forgetting something very important. 

As the drop makes its journey, he does remember things. He remembers fire, and smoke. Ash, screaming, things that are blurry for reasons he can’t quite pin down between it being a long ago memory and the air being choked with the remnants of what he remembers to be his home. He remembers his mother and father’s actions, in a way that causes his heart to contract painfully. 

And he remembers Shen. He remembers Shen being there, giving orders, and the wolves he remembers almost painfully as well. It’s a shock that he can remember that far back, even though most of what he can focus on is...emotions. And colors. But he does remember, and as he lays the drop onto the ground, completely unharmed, he straightens up. 

Shen is looking at him warily, his expression guarded. Po stares at him, and doesn’t know exactly what he’s feeling right away. So he just says the first thing that comes into his head: 

“You killed my family.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i had a lot of fun writing through this, and yes i am particularly blatant about my ships


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Po and Shen have a heart to heart.

Shen and Po stare at each other for a moment that seems to stretch on forever. Po can’t quite decipher the expression on Shen’s face, but he knows what his own feelings are perfectly well. 

Remembering all of this has been a bolt of pain to his heart. He’d only just learned that he was adopted, after all, so unlocking all of these memories of his family, of how much his parents cared about him and what they sacrificed for him...Well, it was bad enough when Shen was angering him before, but now he’s feeling a kind of rage he hadn’t before. And Po doesn’t get angry, not if he can really help it. 

But this anger is a burning thing in his chest. It’s like he’s swallowed a hot coal that’s trying to force its way up and out to kill Shen. It doesn’t matter that a large part of him flinches away from that idea, his feelings are still  _ there _ . 

And Shen hasn’t said anything yet. Instead, he’s staring at Po with wariness, everything on his expression saying that he’s just waiting for him to jump at his throat. This, out of everything, makes it harder for Po to make a move. Fear in enemies eyes as they realize he’s going to totally kick their asses is one thing, but this...feels wrong for reasons he can’t quite articulate to himself. 

He sits down. Shen flinches. 

“...” Po leans against the wall. “Why did you do it?” 

It’s clearly not the question that Shen was expecting. He looks Po up and down as if he’s waiting for something else, before sighing. It’s got the kind of exhaustion Po doesn’t expect from the warlord. 

“I suppose you must have been  _ particularly  _ young if you never even heard rumors.” Even saying something so simple sounds so spiteful coming from Shen. It’s almost impressive, if it wasn’t so upsetting. “There was a...prophecy. That if I were to continue working with the weapons I was devising, a warrior of black and white would stop me. And so…” 

Shen shrugs. As if he isn’t talking about the murder of at the very least an entire village, maybe more. Po has no way of knowing. It infuriates him even more but he inhales slowly, taking the anger and pushing it away from him with an exhale. It’s a technique that he learned from Shifu that he hadn’t thought he’d ever have to use. 

“That doesn’t make a whole lotta sense, you know. Pandas aren’t the only black and white animals out there!” Po points at Shen. “You’ve got black and white on your feathers, dude! And what about cranes? Some wolves? Why  _ pandas _ ?” 

“Ha. Well…” Shen looks off to the side, and Po is absolutely, one hundred percent certain he’s trying his best to hide embarrassment. “...You’re certainly focusing on small details, hm? Why don’t you just ask me the question you want to?” He raises his head and looks down at Po haughtily. “Yes, I killed your parents. My wolves ripped your father apart and I killed your mother, personally.” 

Po rockets to his feet, and it’s only through sheer luck that he has enough self-control not to lunge forward and break Shen’s neck. Shen flinches again, but this time he doesn’t break eye contact with Po, which strikes him as...suspicious. He seems more confident now, but also...like he’s given in? 

It doesn’t make any sense, considering what he knows about Shen. He’s only ever seen him as smug and confident, although maybe a little goofy...Why would he...

Po sits down again, studying Shen carefully. He knows he isn’t going to get anything out of the peacock, not from straightforward questions. Shen has been doing nothing but be cagey and doing his best to anger Po-

Oh. He’s been doing this on purpose, hasn’t he? Trying to make Po harm him or get really angry...Shen has wanted that this whole time. Or at least, it seems that way. Po cannot begin to imagine another reason why he’d be acting this way. 

It dims the fire of his anger a little. Not entirely, but he doesn’t feel the immediately need to rage anymore, which feels a lot better. He can’t help but to think that Shifu would be proud of him, for figuring out at least the beginning of some sort of inwards peace. It doesn’t feel so much like he’s got to ignore his feelings, but just accepting that they’re there already makes him feel a lot more calm. It’s strange. No wonder Shifu took so long to figure this out. 

“You’re so full of it, Shen!” He says. The look on Shen’s face when he laughs is, to be frank, something he’s going to treasure forever. “I mean, good attempt! But when we’re found, you’re gonna go to jail forever, and it’s gonna be awesome for me. So,” He shrugs in a blatant mimic of Shen which gets the expected ruffled feathers. 

“Do you think I’m lying?” 

“I don’t know, have you lied to me before? Hmm.” Po rubs his chin in an exaggerated way. It’s...weird, but now he’s having fun? It feels a lot more natural than the anger. Better, too. “I think you’re telling the truth but you’re sure also just trying to get me mad at you. And it’s not going to work, Shen!” He grins and relaxes against the wall. “It’s just not.”

* * *

 

Even with the help of the wolves, going through the wreckage has still been slow. Everything smells like burning and metal which makes it nearly impossible to find anything specific. The Five have split up between the wolves, and Tigress (to her infinite chagrin) has ended up with Huojin.

“Do you by any chance remember where you last saw Shen?” Tigress finally asks Huojin after what feels like two more hours of fruitless searching. It’s unlikely that the blast would have allowed Po and Shen to stay in the same place, but knowing could at least allow them...something. Some form of information. 

“Er, yeah. I think they were both up on the catwalk, near one of the finished cannons.” Huojin hesitates, then points to a spot a few feet away. “Around there, I think. The floorplan doesn’t line up so good anymore, but I think that’s right.” He sniffs the air and makes a face. “I can’t smell anything from over there, though.” 

“It’s still worth checking out. We shouldn’t leave any stone unturned.” She walks over to the area, wary of the way the ground shifts beneath her paws. Years of training have made it easier to work on uneasy land, but this shifting promises danger beneath her, which she is less of a fan of. 

They make their way over and Tigress feels a pang of unhappiness as she sees yet more of the same twisted metal and not much else. She stops, and tries to figure out which direction the blast may have carried them while Huojin picks through the wreck. 

“Hey- Hold on!” He says suddenly, happily. He’s picked up a large sheet of metal and points. “That looks a helluva lot like a hole! Like, one that goes a ways down?” His tail is wagging and Tigress feels like if hers did, it would be too. Finally, something that could actually be good news.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to try and examine more of what Po must have been thinking about after the inner peace section in the movie. I mean, it must have been a whole helluva thought process during the time he spent racing back to Gongman, right? It's not the end of his thinking, but it's the beginning of his true peace.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Po and Shen finally get a concrete way out of their own mess.

Shen has been sulking for, by Po’s admittedly inaccurate count, the past twenty minutes. After a couple more tries to get Po to lose his temper, he seems to be utterly at a loss as to how to handle someone not exploding even with prodding. Considering Shen’s personality that Po has seen, he doubts that Shen has ever felt a moment of peace in his life. 

Honestly, it isn’t as though Po’s not mad. Totally the opposite! But as tempting as the thought of giving in and even so much as yelling at Shen is, he knows that the second he does he’s just giving Shen what he wants. And doing that, no matter how good it might feel, isn’t going to fix all the atrocities Shen committed. It isn’t going to fix what happened to Po and his parents, and it definitely isn’t going to get them out of this hole. 

What will...he’s admittedly still stuck on. If he was at full strength he’d likely be able to pull some cool kung fu moves and punch his way out of here, but between getting knocked around coming down here and the emotional toll everything’s taken, there’s no way he’d be able to. 

Still, it probably doesn’t hurt to try. Po takes a deep breath, steadies his stance, brings his arm back, and punches the ceiling as hard as he possibly can. 

Nothing happens. He hears a snort behind him. 

“Well, that was certainly-” Shen starts to say, and then there’s a loud rumble and the rocks above them start to crumble in. Po yelps a bit and jumps back, but this isn’t like before. It seems a lot more controlled, more purposeful, more-

“Tigress!” He says, shocked when the actual feline master is in fact who comes barrelling down the newly minted hole. She’s followed by another surprise- That one-eyed wolf that gave Po such a hard time at the musicians' village. He’s both surprised that the wolf is still alive after the explosion and that Tigress is seemingly tolerating him. In her own way. 

“Po,” Tigress says, relief obvious even behind her default stoicism. “Are you hurt? The explosion was intense, after all.” 

“I’m kind of banged up but since I’m still alive I think that’s a pretty good outcome!” Po says, and then before he can stop himself he wraps his arms around Tigress and gives her a tight hug. He’s not quite able to pick her up, but it’s a near thing. He moves away from her just as fast, because the last thing he wants to do is make her uncomfortable. 

It’s lucky he only has to deal with the awkwardness for a second, because there’s an indignant yell from behind them and he’s grateful to have an excuse to turn. The wolf has picked up Shen and hugged him, which makes Po wince imagining how hard that must be on his wing. 

“Put me down, you idiot!” Shen yells with as much anger as he can put out, but Po notices that he isn’t actually struggling all that much. It’s probably more comfortable to be carried like that especially since he can’t get out of here on his own with those injuries. 

“But you’re okay! I thought you might have been dead, my Lord!” The wolf’s tail is wagging so ridiculously fast. It’s kind of...super cute, actually? Wow. 

“I obviously am  _ not _ , so quit your slobbering!” Shen glowers over at Po and Tigress, looking as wary as he is angry. “Ah, and now the panda has a friend. What will you do now, hm? I’m injured and so is Huo, it’s certainly not as if we could  _ possibly  _ fight back. We are entirely at your mercy.” 

Po doesn’t believe him for a second, because even in his injured state he’s positive that wolf could at least put up a fight. But it does bring up the all important question, which he’s been studiously avoiding approaching. What are they going to do with Shen? 

Tigress looks at him and he straightens up. Right. As the Dragon Warrior, he’s got to take control of the situation and make sure things are set right. 

“Buddy, you’re going straight to jail. We’re gonna make sure that you never get to do something like this to anyone ever again.” He knows that he sounds a lot more confident than he feels. He thinks it’s the right thing to say though. Whatever his personal feelings on the subject, Shen has to be put before a proper judge and made to make up for his crimes. It isn’t just Po who’s been hurt deeply by him, after all. 

“Ah...is that so? Hm, well I’m terribly sorry to say that I  _ won’t  _ be doing that, actually.” Shen chuckles and reaches around the wolf’s back. Po and Tigress both fall back into defensive stances, but what Shen pulls out and throws at their feet isn’t a knife of any sort. “If you want to take me in, you’re going to have to work hard at it!” 

As he says this, the unknown object he threw explodes and expels smoke so thick that Po can’t see through it. There’s a peacock’s shriek and the wolf’s laughter before Po can just barely see two figures jumping up through the smoke and out of the top of the hole. Tigress growls and almost jumps after them, but halfway up her climb she turns to look back at Po, who most certainly isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. 

“...We can track them later. It isn’t like they have any more weapons to help them out. We have to get you to a healer, before anything goes wrong.” She climbs back down and picks up Po like he weighs absolutely nothing to her. To be fair, he probably doesn’t right now. It’s been hours since he last ate, after all. “The others are going to be relieved you’re alright, Po.” 

“Ha, yeah, I am too honestly. I didn’t know if we were ever going to get out of there!” Po laughs, but it comes out more than a bit unnaturally. Though after all that, who could blame him? He could probably eat his entire weight in food right now and he has no idea if that would even help. But as he’s finally carried out of the rubble into the stray light coming from the sunrise. There’s shouting and noises around him, but honestly the feeling of finally being free and being able to smell fresh air (or, as fresh as it can get when it’s full of ash) is overwhelming. 

“Po? What’s wrong?” Tigress kneels down next to him in concern, offering out a stabilizing hand that he gratefully takes. 

“Nothin’, I just gotta take a coupla seconds to, you know…” He gestures in a vague way that doesn’t help at all. “Relax? Get over all that stuff that just happened?” 

“Ah.” Tigress says, and then helps him sit down on a comfortable slab of steel. “It is important for a warrior to know when to take a moment. Let’s wait for the others to come to us, then.” 

She sits next to him without another word, and together they watch as the rest of the Five rush in to meet them. 

**Author's Note:**

> this is the "one room one bed" fic youve all been waiting for but its "no beds and barely a room" instead! and boy, do i have a lot more foolish bullshit from these children upcoming!


End file.
